


THE AMERICAN BROTHERHOOD IN MODERN DAY AMERICA.

by chiefy2k16



Category: Assassin's Creed - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-02
Updated: 2017-09-12
Packaged: 2018-09-21 11:26:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9547124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chiefy2k16/pseuds/chiefy2k16
Summary: basically Lucy is still alive desmond is still alive a lot of the Templars are dead oh yeah desmond has a kid so do Shaun and Rebecca.





	1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One - The Rescue.**

 

Desmond's voice carries across the courtyard to the two thin teenage boys hitting each other next to their targets after abandoning their weapons in favour of their fists.

"alright quit it or I'll have both of you on clean-up duty in the house all week , I mean it".

Rashers is the first to stop he also darts away from the other boy as if sensing he'd throw a dirty punch at him as soon as he'd stopped.

a little girl is standing next to desmond watching the two older boys call each other names from a distance as they pick up their bow and arrows lining up their arrows for the perfect shot yet again. desmond sighs wiping a hand down the side of his face before turning back to face the little girl.

" hey there scrapp, what's up ?" he asks eyeing her before looking back at the boys to make sure they were actually training.

"I wanna do a front roll but I can't , can you show me.....please ??"

 

he thinks about it for a few seconds before nodding and beckoning her closer to him.

" c'mon then kid, I suppose it's better than your dad teaching you Shaun isn't exactly known for his patience" he says giving her a look of sympathy before ruffling her rather short hair.

" don't ! it's bad enough mom does it, you don't gotta copy her Des ! quit it !" he snorts a laugh at the look on the kid's face.

" I can't help it kid, you look better with messy hair".

she growls.

he just narrows his eyes and growls back at her. they start to circle each other the kid gets ready to pounce on Desmond but he counters at the last second and she's  suddenly on the ground being tickled by the Mentore, Desmond Miles.

"no fair Des ! ahh no mercy please !"

"what's going on out there ?" Shaun demands from inside his office in the mansion, clearly annoyed at his work being disturbed.

they both pause unsure if Shaun is on about them or the two boys still practicing archery a little further away.

(no one wants to be a victim of Shaun's rage).

 

 they both get up with Desmond brushing down the back of her pants and hoody free of the dust from the ground before he does his own. Rebecca the little girl's mother looks out at them before striding out the kitchen door towards them.

"oh hey Becks, just teaching Chris here the benefits of a tickle tackle" he informs her scratching the side of her head and shoving the kid towards her.

Rebecca laughs.

" you're lucky she didn't bite you Des , Chris ain't too keen on being tickled, c'mon chief dinner's here" she says grabbing the back of Chris's hoody and shepherding her back indoors.

Chris looks back at Des.

" you coming ?"

he nods.

" yupp, I'll be in to eat in a few moments Chief".

the kid grins and turns to run back to the house with the two teen recruits running after her, their boots thumping against the courtyard stones and echoing through it as they skidded into the kitchen after the little girl.


	2. Chapter Two - the rescue part deux.

**Chapter Two - The Rescue Part Deux.**

 

 

Chris has a nightmare.

she wakes up a little confused she rubs the sleep from her eyes.

she thinks she heard a scream , a man's scream.

she gets up out of bed to investigate.

she notices her older sister isn't in bed.

" that's odd" she thinks as she leaves their shared bedroom and goes downstairs.

she spots Rashers with her sister helping an older assassin up through their basement doorway.

" I've never seen someone come outta there before" she thinks as she perches on the landing watching from between the railings above.

Desmond looks up and spots her but she's too engrossed in watching the other assassins put this man on the kitchen table and repair his damaged leg.

it looks like it's been chewed up pretty badly.

her older sister grimaces when she sees the damage that's been done to it.

" dunno why you're making that face girlie" the guy on the table gruffs out.

"how many times I gotta tell you to stop calling me girlie old man ?" she growls out.

"oh ehehe I'll never stop " he chuckles as Rebecca cuts away the ribbons of fabric that were once a pair of distressed jeans from his leg.

he growls and tries to leave the table when Rebecca sprays his leg with something.

Shaun ,Rashers and her older sister all hold him down as Rebecca begins to work.

little Chris is fascinated she's never seen her mum doing anything other than giving paper stitches to young recruits for cuts yet here she is cleaning out and sewing up this guys leg like she's done it a million times before.

Chris doesn't realise Desmond has advanced up the stairs towards her and is now standing behind her.

"and uhh what are you doing up so late ?"

she turns and grins up at him knowing she's in trouble.

"I heard a scream and I had a really bad dream too...."

"is that so ?"

"yuhh huh"

"c'mon back to bed with ya Scrapp, your mum won't be happy if she sees you up this late and watching her work like this".

he steers her by the shoulders nodding to his father downstairs who'd spotted at the same time Des had and motioned he do something about it seeing as her family were rather busy at the moment.

he takes her back up to her shared bedroom and tucks her in.

he sits with her a while until she falls asleep it doesn't happen for a very long time.

he's lying on his back with her cuddled up next to him humming a song as he runs his hand over her short hair. she doesn't seem to mind it when she's asleep he thinks to himself.

he's been gone for quite a long time.

so long in fact that he himself falls asleep with the kid and gets woken up by his mother who'd arrived last night thanks to the English assassin and his father it had been a risky rescue operation they hadn't known about the attack dogs guarding the rear of the facility until it was too late.

the English assassin had been attacked by three massive dogs.

she shakes him awake.

"whuh, whazzgoinon ?" he asks confused.

the kid stirs next to him and his mother arches an eyebrow at him.

"thought you were gonna keep your distance, seeing as you didn't want to be a parent ?" she whispers quietly.

"it's complicated" he growls out as the kid moves in his embrace.

"don't tell me you ...you changed your mind ?  they'll be angry...Des"

"I know...but I want her to know"

"and she will when the time is right when she's older ...not now"

he nods.

"I'll see you two downstairs for breakfast"

 


	3. Chapter Three - Training.

**Chapter three - Training.**

 

little Chris runs into the assassin headquarters and darts past Shaun and Desmond's mother deep in conversation at the kitchen table.

it's a game of hide and seek with Desmond and the civilian initiates.

Desmond had told them that it was training  for their stealth skills and their finding skills.

Chris was apparently the best kid in the mansion at hiding.

she runs up two flights of stairs and three landings before running down a long corridor stopping at the well known black office door.

Chris calms herself before knocking on the door four times.

"enter"

"mr. miles ? I know I'm not supposed to be up here but would you mind if I used your closet ? it's for training"

intrigued at this request he nods once and she darts into his now shared bedroom via the connecting door  between him and his wife and hides in his closet.

smirking he turns back to his laptop to continue his research.

his well attuned hearing lets him hear them before he sees them ...the civilian initiates.

one of them breaks away from the group peering into his office from the doorway.

he glances up from his work and gives him a death glare.

the civilian initiate backs away quickly following the rest of the group back downstairs.

eventually Desmond wanders up to his office.

"alright Chris.... give it up you won"

she doesn't exit the closet.

William miles looks to his son with interest wondering how he knew the child would be up here.

he knew she wouldn't volunteer any of her hiding spots ..willingly.

he figured Desmond either watched the security feed Shaun and Rebecca had set up or he just guessed she would hide in the one place the civilian initiates and the novice assassins would never dare to go.

"dad ...you seen Chris ? I uhh can't find her and the training has been over for about 20 minutes".

"I have".

"could you tell me where she hid ?"

"I could but I think she's enjoying the fact that she found such a good hiding spot....either that or she fell asleep".

he goes back to his research printing out his work before filing it away in a folder and leaving it in a locked drawer in his desk.

Desmond uses his eagle vision to see her trail.

he spots it leading to his parent's closet.

"ahaaa gotcha ya little demon!"

he opens the closet and picks her up.

"no fair , you cheated"

she slaps his shoulder.

 

William Miles knows that little Chris is his granddaughter his wife told him years ago he'd confronted Desmond about it but he'd explained he couldn't do it not then.

he wonders if Desmond has changed his mind as he holds his daughter in his arms he sees something flicker in Desmond's eyes before it vanishes and he turns to his father.

"I'm gonna take Chris outside for a bit go climb some trees"

his father nods.

"I'll let the others know, be careful out there"

Desmond turns and they leave his father's office.

they take the shortest route outta the house through the back door to the gardens and forest area behind the mansion.

he sets little Chris down.

"remember that tree that I told you about ?"

"the really really really old one ?"

"yupp, we're gonna go up it tomorrow  kind of like a err ....good reward for you outsmarting a entire group of civilian initiates. I think you've beaten the previous record you had".

he rubs his hands together.

" but we gotta warm ourselves up today by practicing I know you can climb trees Chris but what we'll be striving for today is speed and the all important don't step on a dead branch rule , you got all that ?"

she nods enthusiastically.

 

 

 

 


	4. Chapter four -Training part deux.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> it's a bit of tradition in this assassin den to take your kid up the "sacred tree" and score their name and yours into the tree somewhere it goes back hundreds of years apparently. Desmond adds Chris to his family's branch its far enough away from Shaun and rebeccas ones that he thinks they'll never notice it. boy is he wrong about that one Shaun takes Chris up there to show her his one with her sisters and his name.

**Chapter Four  -  Training Part Deux.**

 

 

Chris looks up at her dad as she's tryna make sense of his handwriting in her copybook.

He'd written down some historical notes for her to memorize.

"Stop staring" he says without looking up from his morning newspaper and coffee.

"I'm not, but why do I have to memorize this ?"

"It's history . you need to know it you'll thank me when you're older" he says before taking a large sip of coffee folding up his newspaper and leaving it on the table for William.

She reads out loud from the page in front of her.

"List of disease that were rife amongst pirate ships in the 13th to 16th centuries".

"Don't worry I'll have to pictures to go with them once I've fixed the printer in my office".

Little Chris looks traumatised for a second thinking she'll have to read these three a4 pages by herself and memorise them.

"Ok don't get upset. look how about I take you to the sacred tree before bedtime ?"

She nods.

 

Desmond is training the civilian initiates today teaching them how to work on their stealth against the novice assassins.

Little Chris is allowed to watch them train under Desmond as her father made quite  a mess trying to fix his printer and is now trying to hide the evidence of his attempted repair Before Rebecca comes back from their intel gathering mission.

She'll kill him.

Desmond had offered to keep an eye on Chris while he did.

Desmond has decided to train everyone indoors today as the weather outside is kinda crap.

It's pissing rain with wind howling like a man that's been stabbed in the stomach with a serious knife wound....really loud and difficult to focus on much anything.

Chris is perched on the ledge next to Desmond he's sat cross legged next to her with a smirk on his face.

 He's  watching Rashers whip the red rags from the civilian initiates so stealthily he ...almost feels sorry for them, they're in the basement of the mansion there are lower levels Beneath the basement that are dedicated to weapons training amongst other things.

This part of the mansion is dedicated solely for the purpose of stealth training as the old ruins of the monastery that had been here before the mansion are still somewhat intact And still of use the gravel that coats the floor also helps with their step work when it comes to sneaking upon an enemy in a real life situation.

Chris is silently cheering on her older sister who even though she passed this level of training ages ago has decided to give it a go for the sake of fun.

She finishes first and stalks up behind Desmond and Chris but Desmond just shakes his head before she taps him on the shoulder.

"How do you always do that Mr. Miles ?"

"Years of practice, show me whatcha got kiddo"

She hands him her collection of red flags and black flags she'd stealthily taken from both the civilian initiates and the novices.

He's impressed he even sees Rashers one peeking out from the pile it has a white letter R painted on it.

It takes skills to sneak up on Rashers and win a flag.

Rashers is second to finish amongst the novices then the other three follow along with a small handful of red flags in their grasp.

The civilian initiates are the last to climb up the ladder to the ledge to show if any black flags they took.

There's a rather cocky girl with three black flags In her grasp.

A skinny man in his 20s with one black flag.

Two initiates sporting cuts to their face and arms from falling around so much in the dark.

There were spotlights down there but they thought they were meant to avoid going into areas with spotlights.

Chris scratches her chin thoughtfully as she observes the last civilian initiate a Scottish man with four black flags and two red ones in his grasp. he wordlessly hands them to Desmond and walks out and upstairs to have a shower.

"I like that one" Chris says as the civilian initiates all vacate the area one by one with the novice assassins ahead of them leading the way.

"Why ?"

"He was quiet, he didn't hesitate, he saw an opportunity and he took it besides I saw him take one from that girl with the three black flags when she went too close to the Shadows I liked that part he was so close she didn't even know"

Desmond feels a pang of jealousy that the kid isn't looking up to him or praising him but hides it well.

"How come I've never seen you play ?"

" You didn't...you weren't around back then when I was still training"

"Are you not allowed to train like this once you finish training then ?"

" Uhh I suppose you can if you want, but no one really does Chief"

"Ohh ok then"

"If you really wanna see me train... how about I ask a few of the other assassins to see if they'd participate in a game"

"Yeah" she says nodding enthusiastically as Desmond shuts the door behind them as they ascend the stairs up to the upper levels of the house.

 

Chris ventures upstairs to her fathers office.

She realises her father is going to be murdered by her mother.

His office is in complete disarray.

There's ink dried in all over the floor and the rug in his office.

There's a printer on the floor partially deconstructed and Shaun is sat cross legged on the floor next to it with a plastic panel held tightly in his hand as he looks genuinely upset.

"Dad ?"

"Yes Chris ?" he says dropping the plastic panel with a clatter to the floor.

He looks almost guilty as Chris silently surveys the crime scene before her.

"We were gonna go outside right ?"

"Yes. that's right. the sacred tree. I think it's best if I'm not around when your mother comes back from that intelligence retrieval mission".

"What could mum possibly do that would scare you ?" Chris asks in utter confusion.

"Trust me darling , you don't want to know what she's capable of" Shaun mutters darkly.

"So you're scared of mum, really ?" Chris asks sounding incredulous.

"Chris, I know this might sound ridiculously funny to you but I'm afraid mum might kill me. this is one too many electronic things I'm after breaking and she will get mad over This. now you gonna hide with me up in the sacred tree or not ?" Shaun asks clapping a hand on her shoulders looking her in the eyes.

"Well dad I don't want you dead.so to the sacred tree it is then"

Shaun looks relieved.

"C'mon then chiefy" he says taking Chris's hand in his own larger one. 

He grabs their outdoor jackets on the way out.

His one is yellow in colour and Chris's one is blue in colour.

They leave his office and go downstairs they pass the civilian initiates and Desmond in the TV room watching a horror movie marathon.

Shaun tells Desmond they're going to the sacred tree and tells him to keep Rebecca away if she asks for them.

He nods.

The novice assassins are in their dorm rooms getting an early night's kip as they know Desmond has some early morning training planned for them tomorrow as well as the Civilian initiates.

Shaun and Chris put on their outdoor jackets before leaving the mansion with Shaun doing up the buttons on her jacket knowing she doesn't bother with them and that she'll end Up getting sick if she doesn't.

They walk out the back yard and into the forest on the property with Shaun taking her hand as they get deeper into the forest afraid she'd wander away. 

They spend the better part of forty five minutes walking till they get to the sacred tree.

It's huge. 

It has thick tree branches as thick as car tires near the end of the tree.

It's leaves block out any light from the moon above.

"You want me to climb this ?" Chris exclaims.

"No I don't. I'll be with you. technically you'll climb the smaller branches above with ease while I help you up these larger ones, that alright with you Chiefy ?"

He looks down at her as Chris contemplates this suggestion, she's looking up at the tree with an eyebrow raised.

"Fine, just don't let me fall"

"I would never" he says looking outraged.

"C'mon then"

He picks her up walks over to the sacred tree and boosts her up so she can get up into the tree with ease.

He waits until she's steady up there before he hauls himself up there.

He shows her a few symbols on the branch they're stood upon. 

There's an assassin symbol with a eagle carved next to it with the names Erik and Robert next to them.

There are some names with no symbols carved near them.

There's sometimes a carving of an animal or a tree with no name at all.

Chris is fascinated.

She runs her hand over the eagle carving feeling the raised edges of the carved wood marvelling at the detail in it.

Shaun lets her look around on the lower branches before he suggests they climb a little higher.

They get a third of the way up the tree before Shaun tells her to stop.

He guides her over to a fairly thick tree branch.

It's his families tree branch she realises when he sits down on it coaxing her to sit down in front of him.

He wraps an arm around her to keep her safe as he explains the history of the sacred tree to her.

He goes on to explain his mother, her nana took him there as a child while his father was on an intelligence mission in Brazil at the time to gather information on the Templar order.

They stay up there for hours exploring other tree branches.

 Shaun wants to climb higher in the tree and explore a bit more but Chris says she is tired so they leave it for another day.

Shaun climbs down as he,s nearer to the bottom of the tree than she is he jumps down to the ground and coaxes Chris to jump down into his arms.

Shaun carries her from the forest figuring she's still tired from all the climbing they go back to the mansion and re enter it. 

They lean against the doorframe seeing that the initiates and Desmond are halfway through their second horror movie in the marathon, two of the initiates jump up in fear when they see a large shadow by the doorframe.

Desmond chuckles.

"If you two wanna stop watching the horror movies and go to bed I won't stop you"

"Oh hey Shaun, Rebecca's not here yet so you're safe for now. wanna watch with us ?"

Chris chews her hoody sleeve after her father has removed their jackets and settled on the couch letting her sit in between himself and Desmond.

She's agitated but hides it well.

(I'll explain why she's agitated in the next chapter).

Desmond knows Rebecca wouldn't let little Chris watch horror movies but Shaun has no problems with it.

He smirks wondering if tonight is the night Shaun will finally be murdered for going against Rebecca's parenting ideas. yet again.

Shaun lets Chris stay up extra late she watches about three horror movies before she passes out from tiredness.

It's then that Rebecca arrives home with the other assassins from the intelligence retrieval mission.

"Uhh Desmond ? "

"Would you mind taking Chris up to bed for me. I don't want her to see ... a fight happen. please ?"

"Sure".

He drops the popcorn bowl on Shaun's lap, gets up and picks up Chris's sleeping form.

Desmond passes Rebecca and the other assassins in the hallway as he walks towards the stairs.

"Go easy on him, he's shitting bricks in there ,Becks"

"I'll do my best ,Des".

She runs her hand over Chris's short hair before moving outta the way for Des.

He ascends the stairs as his father descends past him with a tablet in his hands.

He pauses as he watches Desmond carry his daughter upstairs to her room tilting his head to the side before turning to continue his descent he reaches the end of the stairs and greets the assassins realising they are one short.

He spots Rebecca as he and the other assassins pass the entertainment room.

She's scolding him for something.

Desmond has finally gotten to the top of the stairs.

"Whoah I gotta lay off all those cheeseburgers, ugh"

He walks into Chris's bedroom she shares with her older sister.

Surprise , surprise her sister isn't there.

Desmond knows she's with Rashers tonight but there's a part of his mind that's thinking both Shaun and Rebecca would kill them both if they found out.

He thinks on what a waste it would be if they lost two fine novices like that but then again they're not abiding by the rules.

(the assassins have rules about dating in the den so deal with it bitches)(in my fics they do anyways).

He gets out Chris's pyjamas and puts them on her.

"A British flag?! who is Shaun tryna embarrass more here...sheesh"

He tucks Chris in and she rolls over in her sleep to find a more comfortable position.

She ends up sleeping on her stomach.

Just like Desmond does.

He can't hear anything downstairs, he figures they've gone down to the underground offices.

Shaun slowly ascends the stairs.

Desmond leaves her room leaving the door slightly ajar for Chris. 

Shaun leans against the top of the banister rail with a hand over his eyes sighing.

"You alright ?"

"Yes. is she still asleep ?"

"Yupp. g'night Shaun"

"Night Desmond"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	5. Chapter Five - Rage.

**Chapter Five - Rage.**

 

Little Chris wakes up with her Dad perched on the end of her bed.

"Lemme guess, Training ?" she says rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"Uhh...no sweetheart. I umm have to go away on a mission today. I'll be away for quite some time, I've already told your mother and sister."

He looks extremely upset.

Chris leans up in bed eyeing him with suspicion.

"You're going away ? how long ?" she asks afraid to hear the answer.

"I'm not sure yet. it's an undercover mission but I'll come back I promise"

"Oh"

She looks a little disappointed.

" Listen before I go, I wanna take you back up the sacred tree alright ?"

She nods.

Shaun fetches her clothes for the climb.

He helps her dress for the day.

Her sister must have already gotten up for training with Rashers.

She's not in bed usually she'd sleep in but she isn't today that's odd Chris thinks as her father buttons up her favourite  dress shirt  for her.

 he remembers to do the cuffs as well before he picks up her favourite red jumper with the embroidered mini eagle on it.

She puts her arms up over her head and Shaun smiles  before he pulls her jumper down for her.

She puts her hands down and sniffs her sleeve before wrinkling her nose at it.

"why's it smell different ?"

Shaun takes a cautionary whiff.

" Your mum must've changed the fabric softener again Chris".

"It smells yucky"

"Hmmm yeah I'm not that keen on it myself to be honest"

He picks up her sturdiest pair of jeans and helps her pull them on .

"Dad ?"

"Yes princess ?"

"You're gonna come back .......right ?"

He doesn't answer for a few seconds as he gets a pair of black fluffy socks and puts them on her feet.

"Course I will, just not sure how long I'll be away "

Chris chews the sleeve of her shirt not believing him genuinely fearful he's leaving for good.

Shaun picks up her brown boots and tugs them on , he encourages her to do the laces herself and she does gets it right on her first try and he scratches his chin in thought.

She's still chewing on her shirt sleeve when he notices.

He swats her hand away.

"I swear sometimes you're part goat..."

He escorts her out of her shared bedroom and downstairs down multiple landings she yawns as he ruffles her short hair.

She grabs his hand when they get to the ground floor of the mansion and for a moment he pauses looking down at her chewing his inner cheek in an effort not to be upset he has to leave. 

"C'mon then chief , let's go"

They pass the entertainment room and it seems to have nearly all of the recruits both civilian and novices playing a game of blind man's bluff.

Desmond's mother is judging if they're playing by the rules or not.

The Scotsman seems to be perched on the low couch next to her looks like he's already played and won a game.

Desmond spots them and grins .

Little Chris leans her head against Shaun's leg as he pauses to speak with desmond.

His trousers reek of digestive biscuits she thinks as she exhales against them.

He glances down and sees she really looks angry but then she glances up and schools her features with desmond not quite sure what is going on.

Shaun tells him "they're going up to the sacred tree before he leaves".

He nods.

"If uhh Rebecca is looking for me tell her where I am if not well uhh......"

"Yeah I will"

The kid wonders if he did something to upset her mother yet again, but she won't ask him.

Rebecca is in her office speaking to an old research colleague of Shaun's in Brazil on skype.

He's excited they're gonna have him for a while helping their den to set up properly couldn't have timed it better.

She nods .

He gets a younger recruit bounding up to him with a cell phone .

"It's for you sir".

"Oh thanks Matthias".

" I guess I gotta cut ya short there Becks .sorry. but , it's my mum".

"Oh yeah sure go ahead I'll chat to ya later see how well Shaun has settled in".

" Uh huh laters".

" Laters buddy".

She gets up from her laptop and closes it for the time being.

 

She cracks her knuckles before she stretches and goes upstairs to ground level looking for something to eat.

 

She passes desmond on the way to the kitchen.

"Hey Des"

"Oh hey uhh Shaun and Chris went up to the sacred tree he told me ta let ya know".

"Uh huh got it"

She picks up a red apple before grabbing her winter jacket by the back door and exiting the mansion.

Shaun is standing in front of the sacred tree explaining it's illustrative history to little Chris.

He goes on to explain to her that his mother, her nana took him there as a child while his father was on a intelligence retrieval mission in brazil at the time to get specific information on the Templar order.

She chews her inner cheek like he does as she thinks.

"Can I come visit you then ...wherever it is you're going ? or maybe I can go too ? say it's part of my training......"

"uhmm no. sorry it's dangerous. much as I'd love to take you with me it's not a safe place for you to be besides your mother would be angry if I stupidly put you in harms way ".

Little Chris ponders on it for a bit.

"What if I ask Mr. Miles ? he's the one in charge what if ....."

"Your Dad said no Chris, and so am I . listen to us it's for your own safety alright" Rebecca says exasperatedly as she pulls the hood of her winter jacket around her face a little more.

"What's got you two out in this weather anyways ?"

Chris points to the sacred tree.

"This does. c'mon Dad"

Rebecca seems a little surprised at Chris's attitude towards her but Shaun guessed this might happen.

Shaun helps her up to the lowest of the branches.

"You coming Becks ?"

"Uh ...yeah I'll meet you guys up there"

Shaun hauls himself up effortlessly and waits a beat or two before following after little Chris.

She passes numerous branches until Shaun tells her to stop.

they're a third of the way up in the tree where his family branch is when Rebecca appears nearby.

she perches on a big branch nearby as Shaun traces his name with his mothers on the branch.

he has Chris sat in front of him with his arm around her waist .

he glances at Rebecca and she nods.

he gets out his dagger from his pocket with a sharpening stone hands it to Rebecca .

she sharpens it for them seeing as if Shaun attempted it they'd fall off the branch.

Rebecca knows he's afraid he won't come back that he could be killed and he'll never get to see Chris carve her name into the tree so she's ok with it for now.

of course she'll probably take Chris up here when her real training begins and carve her name on her own families branch.

"it's sharp now" she pockets the stone and hands the dagger back to Shaun.

"Alright Chris I want you to pay attention here " 

she nods.

Shaun carves his name" SHAUN HASTINGS AND " neatly onto a large section of the tree branch then he passes the blade to little Chris.

she carves CHRISTINA HASTINGS right after what he'd carved and it impresses them both that she did it so well. she hands the dagger back to Shaun.

"Ok now what ?"

"You can come up with me to see my branch if ya want....there aren't as many names on mine as your Dad's but I promise you'll love it Chris"

Chris shrugs.

"Why not I've gotten this far"

Rebecca leads the way with Chris and Shaun following after her to about two thirds of the way up the tree.

"Ok we're here"

Chris reads the names on the branch but there's not many names on there. 

there are some rather fascinating symbols carved into the tree branch.

a massive eagle carving is halfway up the branch with no names or other markings anywhere near it.

further up from this there's a carving of three skulls with a name under each of them , Greta , Hunter and Carver.

Rebecca's father and mother's names are over Rebecca's name.

there's a space followed by Rebecca's name and her eldest daughter's name. 

Chris tilts her head to the side.

"Mum ?"

"Yeah ?"

"Why is your dad's name here , doesn't he have his own branch ?"

"Well no. he was never an Assassin. you have to be an Assassin to have one and he wasn't."

"What was he then ?"

"He was ex- army. stopped some Templars from killing my Mum actually when she was on a mission in Canada."

"I was 11 when we came up here by then I'd been training to be an Assassin for a few years but I guess they were worried they'd never see me carve my name up here who knows I never got to ask them".

Chris looks at her Dad and he shakes his head.

she chews on her sleeve again.

"Becks are you sure she's mine ? I'm pretty sure she's part goat.....dammit Chris".

"C'mon Chris, you're gonna ruin your shirt".

Rebecca's eyes are glassy with unshed tears as she gets Chris to spit out her shirt sleeve.

Shaun chews on his inner cheek knowing she's gonna start thinking about her parent's deaths tonight and he seriously doesn't want to leave now knowing her raw emotions about their deaths are gonna rise bubbling to the surface tonight and he knows she'll need to be kept an eye on.

They descend the tree with ease as Chris struggles with the bigger branches near the end of the tree.

Charlie and Desmond are down near the base of the tree with the Scotsman explaining something to him. he grins.

it seems he's shown promise and they want him to join the order...permanently.

"Look out below" Chris shouts as she preps to jump down. Rebecca and Shaun's hearts jump up into their throats as they scramble to get down to her.

"Ahh ahh I don't think so , ya little demon" Desmond tuts at her grabbing her before she can jump down to the ground.

"Hey what gives! I wudda cleared it"

"No you wouldn't, you wudda broken a leg for sure"

Shaun reaches the lower branches and does a forward roll as he lands with Chris applauding him. he grins over at her about to boast about his skills before Rebecca collides with him laughing her ass off.

"Oww, what the bloody--"

"Language Shaun"

"Oh sod off "

"Did you enjoy that one, Becks ?"  he sighs underneath her with annoyance.

"Yeah shudda seen your face"

"ughhh"

Chris and Desmond are watching them with amusement sparkling in their eyes.

the English assassin , a distant cousin of Desmond's, a man by the name of  Charlie looks a bit concerned Shaun isn't getting up.

"Y'alright Hastings ?"

"Hmmm oh yeah I'm fine. if someone could convince my wife to get up off of me though that would be a great help".

the Scotsman offers Rebecca a hand and hauls her up effortlessly.

she thanks him and dusts herself down.

he helps Shaun up too brushing the back of his jacket as Shaun raises a closed fist and coughs into it.

"Ugh I'm getting old".

"Dad ?"

"Yes , princess ?"

" I want a hug"

"Alright one hug coming right up"

Desmond hands her over to Shaun who practically squeezes the breath outta her not sure on if he'll ever return home to her or any of the rest of them.

he seems a little envious for a beat or two before Charlie nudges him and he schools his features.

Chris has her arms wrapped around her Dad's neck and for a  moment Rebecca has a flashback to her  own childhood of  hugging her Dad and never wanting to let go.

of him  going on missions with her Mom as backup not trusting anyone to back her up like he does.

she can feel fresh tears on the verge of spilling she bites her lip to stop herself. 

Shaun has put Chris down and he turns to Rebecca.

"Hey Becks , we're gonna go back inside . you coming with ?"

"Oh yeah sure"

the three of them walk back indoors.

little Chris throws her jacket on a chair stretching her arms over her head.

Shaun scratches his chin as he picks it up and puts it on the nearby coat rack.

William Miles is talking to his wife in hushed whispers in the entertainment room.

she looks rather worried he seems rather annoyed.

he stops mid sentence when little Chris wanders in dragging her dad by the arm.

"can we play a game of snap ?"

"course we can" 

"you gotta show mum she's never played it before"

"hey Becks c'mon Chris wants you in on this"

William Miles watches little Chris closely as he perches on his chair with a tablet in his lap pretending to work.

his wife perches on its armrest.

he can see the kid looks a little angry but whenever she looks up she has a poker face on.

he is sure she's gonna snap and just take it out on someone but she doesn't.

he seems a little surprised when she looks up at him after winning a round of snap.

he's been caught staring he knows.

she smirks and turns to Shaun and Rebecca who deal out the cards again.

"caught out by a 6 year old. William, I think you're losing your touch"

he slowly turns in his seat to glare at her and she glares right back.

"I know you're joking. still, it's not funny. it was a lucky break she got"

 

she glances at her husband and he's trying not to grin.

"William"

"what ?"

"you're not .....thinking of training her, right ?"

"no. she's too young"

"ahh I see."

she thinks to herself for a few moments wondering if he's gonna go ahead and train her anyways. he probably will. she is his grandchild after all.

once William miles gets an idea in his head it's very difficult to persuade him to change his mind.

Shaun and Rebecca's eldest daughter enters the room with her boyfriend Rashers.

Shaun's head whips up at her laughter.

 

"ahh it's my other daughter the skilled one. what was your name again ? I can't seem to remember as  you're never around dear old dad anymore. why ?"

"you know what my name is dad. it's Alice. you usually shorten my name to Al or Ali."

"ahh yes. and I see your shadow is with you tonight....again".

"daaaaaad, Rashers is not my shadow. he's my....."

"he's your what ?" he asks sharply glaring at Rashers.

William Miles looks on with interest.

"my boyfriend"

Rebecca utters a quiet "oh fuck"

William arches a single eyebrow and continues to stare at little Chris.

Shaun is speechless for a few moments.

he's staring at them as if he's thinking it's a prank and the two of them will start laughing but no they won't .

they're being serious.

"welllllllllllllll shit, this is all I need in my life right now" he thinks to himself.

"boyfriend.....well you better treat her right or I'll murder you and make it look like an accident"

little Chris and William both erupt with laughter at the look on Rasher's face.

he looks traumatised.

"I ...I wouldn't dream of it. little Chris would get me first and smother me in my sleep"

Shaun and Rebecca both smirk at this.

William laughs then claps his hand over his mouth when Chris glares at him.

 

**roughly 9pm later that night.**

Shaun waves goodbye to the civilian recruits and the novices.

he hugs Alice, then Rebecca and finally little Chris.

he gets into the truck with Charlie who's going to drive him to the airport.

Charlie drives off with Shaun waving to his family before they're out of sight.

"you got yer tickets and everything mate ?"

"yes . I had to double check everything as Chris kept on taking my passport and hiding it. desmond caught her the last time doing it..."

"I'm guessing she's really gonna miss ya"

"you have no idea"

 

little Chris is still staring out the front window of the entertainment room standing on the couch next to a seated Desmond.

he's looking for a movie to watch with the novices and civilian initiates and anyone else in the house that's interested.

she turns and collapses down right next to him crossing her arms in annoyance.

he wraps an arm around her shoulders to comfort her, it's then the novices roll in taking the choice of seats before the civilians turn up for movie night.

William sits down on the other side of Chris for movie night. Rebecca and Alice share an armchair, rashers sits on the floor by Alice's booted feet.

Desmond's mum is off reading a book in her room.

 

halfway through a police cop movie, Chris falls asleep and surprises everyone by falling asleep with William miles as a human pillow.

he doesn't seem to mind.

he cards his fingers through her short hair as she growls in her sleep.

he grins remembering Desmond used to do the same as a kid.

Desmond waits until the movie is over before he volunteers to take her up to bed.

Rebecca nods her assent and William helps him to ease her up into his arms.

William watches him walk upstairs, smiles and then turns back to watch the next movie on TV a superhero movie.

Desmond takes little Chris up to her shared room.

"pyjamas, pyjamas where are you ?" he hums as he looks to her dresser drawer and then under her pillow.

"aha though you could trick the mighty Desmond , not today"

he changes her into the pyjamas .

these ones have crows all over them.

he lifts the blankets up and pulls them back .

he puts Chris down and pulls the blankets back over her.

she mutters in her sleep and he leans down brushing her hair back outta her face and kisses her on the forehead.

"sweets dreams, ya little demon"

he leaves the room and goes back downstairs to watch the movies with everyone.

 

Shaun wipes his hand down the side of his face as he has his bag over his shoulder as he gets into the van with the Brazilian assassin, Michael.

he drives them to the new assassin den explaining to him that their den leader is someone he knows quite well.

Shaun nods.

" guess I'll find out soon enough"

"you will, we're almost there"

they arrive at a cluster of building near an old abandoned castle.

Shaun smirks.

" if I didn't know any better I'd swear I was in the first 15 minutes of a horror movie ha-ha"

"oh Shaun don't. c'mon the entrance is this way"

he leads him in through a rusted iron door at the base of a tower near the main part of the castle.

Shaun follows him quickly not wishing to get lost on his first day there.

he's greeted by novice and assassins alike.

"hello Shaun. long time no see"

"Lucy ?"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> this will be a multi chapter I clearly have more to add so here goes!!


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